


The End Is Near

by TheMissingSpleen



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Buried Easter Egg, Maxis is an ass, Non canon is the best canon, Richtofen Wins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-04-27 08:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14421873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMissingSpleen/pseuds/TheMissingSpleen
Summary: What happens to the Ultimus crew after Richtofen gains control of the zombies? Follows the non-canon Richtofen easter egg. Also featuring the TranZit crew.





	1. Chapter 1

Dempsey stared at the molten ball of flames that was the Earth. He stared at the destruction they had caused, the death, how they had damned themselves to the barren wasteland of the Moon, only to stop someone they all trusted.  
Sorrow began to fill his lungs as he thought how far they had all come, how many undead they had killed, how many places they had all visited, only for their freedom to be taken from them at the last second.  
They had all known the German was up to something, but they had been too blinded by their own desperation.  
The zombies had since died down. They all saw it as lack of corpses to reanimate. None of them believed that the German held any kindness in his heart as to hold off the undead.  
Takeo had told the others as to why there were gaps in their memory. He had told them what exactly he had done to them all, including Samantha.  
It made him feel sick.  
Dempsey felt his hatred to the Nazi wash away his sorrow, as he found himself heading to for the MPD.  
The German hardly ever spoke, or made an gesture that he was trapped inside that pyramidic prison, but every now and again they would hear him.  
“Max Ammo.”  
It meant that there were survivors down there. That the Earth was still habitable. It gave Dempsey the smallest pang of hope.  
Dr Maxis would often speak to them, guide them around the base. He would mainly talk to Samantha, but Dempsey could understand, she was his daughter after all.  
He would often tell stories through the computer his was trapped within of his endeavors with Group 935, stories that would almost always mock his assistant.  
But even Maxis seemed distant now, not even talking to his daughter, someone he had tried so hard to protect.  
You see there was a problem.  
They were running out of food.  
They had taken a very limited amount of rations with them, believing that they would soon return to an apocalyptic free world, but they had been so very wrong.  
The base itself had not been inhabited in nearly eighty years, and so much of the food was inedible, no matter how hard Nikolai tried to convince them otherwise.  
Both Samantha and Maxis had attempted to calibrate the teleporter, but yet neither of them truly understood how to work it, and Samantha had nearly killed them in the process.  
Only three people knew how to work the device. Only one of whom still remained.  
Dempsey had now made it to the cavern that housed the glass-like pyramid. He had no idea if Richtofen could see him.  
He thought of the amount of hours he must have stood there, swearing and cursing the German, yelling about what he’d do to him if he ever saw him again.  
But now they were in despair.  
“Richtofen I don’t know if you can hear me,” Dempsey hissed, “But we’re running out of food.”  
Dempsey stopped and listened to his voice echo within the rocky cave. He felt stupid, embarrassed even, that he had resorted to this.  
“Richtofen we need your help.”  
Silence.  
Dempsey kicked a nearby rock and watched as it bounced off the MPD. He had been foolish to think that the Nazi would even respond. It wasn’t like he had to eat any more. He was immortal.  
He sighed, he thought about staying a moment later and giving him a few choice words, but what was the point? The German would never respond anyway.  
They were doomed.


	2. Chapter 2

The ground beneath them began to shudder and shake. The four of them struggled to maintain balance, as they ran outside Griffin Station in fear that it might collapse.   
Then as quickly as it started, the quake stopped. But despite this, all four off them could tell something was off, something was wrong, very, very wrong.   
Their suspicions were confirmed as the high pitched voice that they had all come to loathe, filled the sky.  
“Finally, I am in control! The evil is mine to manipulate as I wish! The world is now my own personal plaything!”   
Dempsey’s gaze turned to the Earth. His home was lost forever, now in the hands of a madman who was able to distort and warp it to his own sick and sadistic pleasures. He found himself not wanting to return to Earth, even though their situation necessitated it.  
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” A second voice followed. This too was a voice they all recognised. Maxis.   
But gone was his usually calm demeanor, instead his voice echoed shock and anger. Defeat.  
“I’ve won Maxis, that’s what I’ve done!” Richtofen giggled hysterically.  
Maxis knew that everything was lost, he could not reason with this insane being, but still he would try.   
“What about Samantha, you actions condemn my daughter’s very soul to eternal damnation. Even if you do not care for her, surely you wish to return to your own body?”  
Maxis half expected Richtofen’s reply, but his calm, almost rational demeanor threw him.  
“Not really, no. And I already possess the power to leave this netherworld and re enter to the physical realm once more. I can chose anybody I will!” Richtofen’s playful tone suddenly disappeared, washed away with an undercurrent of hatred. “As for you Maxis,” Richtofen hissed, “You will simply cease to be! Auf Wiedersehen, Toodles!” Richtofen’s insane laughter once again filled the air, as Maxis screamed in protest.  
“Daddy!” Samantha called out, as she heard her father’s cries. She tried to run back into the base, towards the MPD, but Dempsey stopped her.  
“He’s gone, Sam.” Dempsey looked into the green eyes of Richtofen’s body. For the first time, that Dempsey had ever seen, they held sadness. Nikolai and Takeo, too became aware. To them, they felt confused at the foreign emotion upon the German’s face, forgetting that the body now inhabited the soul of a young girl.   
Samantha began to cry, something Dempsey truly wished Richtofen could see. His old body showing weakness, the one emotion he did not seem to possess, unless the voices had got the better of him…  
… but that was only pain, this was sorrow, true despair.  
They did not know what to do next.  
Did Richtofen already possess a physical form, and if so would he be coming after them? Would he kill them?  
These were questions none of them wanted to know the answers too.


	3. Chapter 3

Zombies, hundreds and thousands of zombies began to pour from Griffin Station. More than any of them had ever seen. They watched in helplessness as they slowly staggered forwards.  
In the rush to escape the shaking station they had left their weapons.  
But the sudden influx of undead, left the four confused. Richtofen had the ability to create more undead the entire time he was inside the MPD, so why did he stop?  
“Richtofen, you asshole!” Dempsey heard Nikolai yell, but then it dawned on him.  
“He’s just taunting us.” The American muttered.  
“What?” Everyone looked at Dempsey in disbelief, this was the manic German, of course he wanted to kill them all.  
“You know that crazy bastard,” Dempsey insisted. “He wants to kill us himself, so why would he let the zombies do it?”  
The four exchanged glanced, realising that Dempsey may have a point. The outcome was in no way better, but at least they might live another day.  
“We need to capture a zombie.” Samantha added, slowly a plan was coming together.  
“What, why?” Nikolai turned to Samantha, he still did not trust the girl.  
“It’s our way to communicate with Richtofen, he can hear us through the undead.”  
Whether they liked it or not, the girl’s idea made sense. Richtofen’s long disappearances whilst fighting the hoards suddenly became accounted for. He was not performing crazed experiments as the others had believed, instead he was talking to Samantha, plaguing her with his sadistic thoughts of torture and suffering.  
Dempsey partly wanting ask Sam what exactly Richtofen has said to her, but he didn’t want to distress her further.  
But, as of now that had a more pressing issue, the massive ever approaching hoard of zombies.  
Almost by instinct, the crew reached behind them grabbing an AK-74u from the wall and began shooting at the unrelenting hoard.  
They were forced to retreat, back past the teleporter and towards the Biodome. This was where they hoped to capture their zombie.  
A glowing pillar of blue light caught their eye, the box.  
Perhaps this wasn’t going to be so difficult after all.  
With more powerful the undead continuously began to fall, now they were going to have to pick a straggler.  
It was Nikolai who made the move.  
He was training a slow, stumbling zombie. Nikolai was forced to stop every now and again, so that the creature would catch up.  
When it was the only one left, they wandered inside the station, grabbing the zombie and tying it against the wall by it’s wrists and ankles. It moaned and struggled as it tried to make an escape.  
“Zhis is vhat Edvard used to do vhen I vas in control. He used to scream at me und torment me through ze undead und then he would torture ze poor creature.”  
“Nice.” Dempsey muttered.  
The four of them stared into the blue eyes of the zombie, to all of them it didn’t look right after seeing yellow for so long.  
“Hey Richtofen, I know you hear me, traitorous bastard.” Nikolai roared grabbing the zombie roughly by the throat.  
“Eddie.” The zombie hissed, begging for help from its master.  
Then it froze. The zombie stopped its violent convulsions and inhuman screaming and merely stared at the four people surrounding it.  
“Nik..olai.” It gargled before lunging forward and attempting to bite the Russian’s wrist.  
“Get out of that pyramid thing so I can kick your ass!” Dempsey added.  
The zombie threw its head back and began a mangled laugh.  
“Riss is no raughing matter.” Takeo spat his grip on his katana tightening.  
“I’m already out … of ze MPD... schwein.” The undead hissed, it’s blue eyes glowing brighter.  
The crew looked at each other, simultaneously interrogating each other with their eyes. But no Richtofen was to be found, other than the manically laughing zombie.  
“Scared?” The zombie tried to grin with what was left of its facial muscles, causing it to look even more grotesque.  
“I will have your spleens and hearts UND GIZZARDS!” The mangled voice screamed as the zombie thrashed and pulled at its restraints. The four of them watched in morbid curiosity.  
It was only when the zombie ripped free its arm and lunged forwards did they return to reality.  
Samantha, who had her M16 trained on the zombie, fired, causing the zombie to suddenly fall backwards, a hole in it’s skull.  
They watched the blue light fade from the undead’s eyes, staring at its loose, severed arm, still strapped down.  
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Dempsey moaned, clutching his head.


	4. Chapter 4

“Who the fuck are you?”  
Dempsey raised his pistol at the four beings that had seemingly materialised out of nowhere.  
Upon hearing the commotion, Nikolai, Takeo and Sam also joined the group.  
Before them stood four survivors. They would later learn the names of Misty, Russman, Stuhlinger and Marlton.   
“Hai, we do not welcome intruders!” Takeo unsheathed his katana and brandished it at the newcomers.   
“Russman means no harm.” One of the group stepped forwards raising his hands in surrender. Dempsey studied the man, his demeanour strikingly resembled that of Nikolai.   
“We come in peace.” Another stepped forwards, he was tall, lanky and looked just like the stereotype for a geek.   
“I am Marlton, Marlton Johnson, this is Russman,” Marlton gestured to the man who had first spoken.   
“This is Abigail, but she is familiar with the pseudonym Misty and this is-“  
“Samuel, Samuel Stuhlinger.” Samuel had been stood towards the back of the group and they hadn’t noticed the man until now.   
There didn’t seem to be anything extraordinary about them, unlike the four war veterans, still dressed in their uniforms. Instead they looked like normal people, civilians. Was it possible that normal life had continued, even under Samantha and Richtofen?  
“Well, I’m Dempsey, that’s Nikolai, Takeo and Sam.”  
The survivors stood silent, studying each other in a primal act of dominance, as if at any moment, someone would fire their weapon.  
But no such thing happened.  
“How did you get here?” Samantha asked, her voice still demonic from the aether. The four newcomers took a step back, unsure how to process the young girl’s voice in the body of an ageing man.  
None of the answered.  
Realising that their staring and confusion over the girl would only upset Samantha, Nikolai repeated the question.  
“Da, Nikolai want to know why you here.”  
“Some strange purple blue light brought us here.” Misty replied, matter of factly.   
All four of them understood what she meant. The teleporter.  
Despite this being the first female, well first female in a female body, that Dempsey had seen in years. He did not trust her one bit. It felt exactly like some kind of a trap that Richtofen would have created just to tease the American. In Dempsey’s mind, she was more likely a zombie than human.  
“Uh huh?” Dempsey pondered the response. “You wouldn’t happen to know a Richtofen would you?”  
The group shared glances, quickly reaching an answer.  
“No, no we don’t.”  
“If you ever come across him, comrade, send him here.” The Russian tightened his grip on his pistol, the three others followed, as if this Richtofen may suddenly appear out of thin air.  
“He has done evil things and will pay!” Samantha screeched.

The more the two groups spoke, the more they understood of the situation.  
Russman, Misty, Stuhlinger and Marlton, they were all survivors from America.  
The world was now barren and volcanic.  
And some strange German man was controlling the zombies. Richtofen, as they now knew him to be, had betrayed his allies to gain control of these zombies and swapped bodies with a young girl in the process.  
That seemed to be the most of it.  
Dempsey watched as the group simultaneously removed ration packs and began either eating or cooking the contents.   
“You have rations?” Dempsey asked the group.   
They nodded, unsure of the other American’s intentions, but Marlton spoke for them.  
“To confirm, we have more than calorific sustenance than is intended for human dietary consumption-”  
“In English.” Nikolai interrupted the rambling man.   
“We have loads.” Misty handed a pack to Dempsey.  
The other exchanged worried glances, was this part of Richtofen’s trickery?  
“Where did you get these?” Takeo questioned, his voice sounding sterner than he intended, but none of them seemed to notice.  
“From some old abandoned military base. Something arrow, I think it was.” Stuhlinger replied, not even looking up from his food.  
Despite Stuhlinger’s story making a great deal of sense, Dempsey looked at the package as if it might be poisoned. Perhaps they were just being paranoid, but then again how many military bases had Richtofen taken them too?


	5. Chapter 5

Samuel had managed to pull himself away from the others. He now found himself somewhat lost within the giant Moon Base that was Griffin Station, hiding in the corner of a partially excavated tunnel. He watched as a zombie sauntered past, not even showing him any recognition. Sooner or later they would notice, notice how the undead never seemed to go after him.  
Infact, the zombies primarily seemed to go after Marine.  
Stuhlinger sat down on a partially covered crate. He had expected something like this might happen. He clutched at his temples, trying to silence his ‘friend’.  
“She’s in MY body!” The high-pitched German voice shreaked. He had put up with him for so long, with his burning hatred and his perverted happiness. There seemed to be no in between. Stuhlinger began to believe that his ‘friend’s’ insanity would eventually drive him insane.  
“You’re... you’re a Nazi?!” Samuel replied, disgusted. He never would have helped the crazed German if he had known. What else was he hiding from him?  
“I don’t see why that’s relevant, Samuel.” The voice chided. “Besides, I need a way to remove her soul out without damaging my body.”  
Samuel could see his thoughts before he even began to speak. He shuddered, his mouth dry as he repressed the urge to vomit.  
“Perhaps I could suffocate her in an airlock or strangle her! Oh I could slip her some poison. The possibilities are endless.” The German giggled like a child, something that he had just proved to Stuhlinger he was not.  
“No you can’t, they are your friends.” Stuhlinger protested, but his words did not have the desired effect.  
“Ah I see what you mean, Sammy. She needs a physical body so I can torture her to death myself. Such clever thinking!”  
“No that’s not wha-“  
“She will scream and scream and beg me for mercy!” His ‘friend’s’ playful tone vanished, once again replaced with rage. Even now, the absolute rapid change in his attitude threw him. “I will have her organs oh and her blood, her beautiful blood!”  
“Please I don’t want you to. Your thoughts are making me sick.”  
Samuel felt an uncomfortable feeling growing in his lower regions.  
“Why... why does this turn you on?” He muttered trying to control his body.  
“I don’t know. It always has.”  
He could feel him grinning in the back of his head. The sooner they did this, the better.  
Stuhlinger looked up, he could hear footsteps approaching  
“Talking to yourself, Stuhlinger?” It was the other American. The Marine.  
“I er, no.” Samuel stammered. He could hear the German giggling. Stulingher looked down at his shoes, trying not to let his ‘friend’ distract him.  
“We all heard you. You know the Nazi used to do that. Why can’t we find someone who’s sane?” Dempsey sat down beside Samuel. He began to panic, what if he noticed?  
“I’d… I’d best go and check on the others.”  
“Uh huh?” Dempsey watched in silence as the man hurriedly left, following the maze of tunnels and rooms that would eventually take him back to the central area of Griffin Station.  
“I’ll be damned if he can find his way back. Didn’t even know this tunnel existed.” The Marine uttered in confusion. They had gone over this base for what felt like a thousand times and never found this area, only locked doors.  
Maxis claimed that Richtofen had reset the passwords after he had gained access to the computer.  
Something was happening, and Dempsey needed to find out what… and fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't really been leaving comments, sorry about that.  
> For those who want to know, the title is named after the soundtrack the plays when Maxis blows up the Earth. If you don't know it, please listen to it... it will make you so sad.  
> How do you guys feel about chapter lengths. 700 words feels short? I went through a phase of writing between 5-7k per chapter, probably not a good idea. I need to find some middle ground here I think.  
> And another thing... (I'm gonna end up writing another story with this comments lmao)  
> ... the ending. I have two. Why does this always happen? I have a what I will call a Treyarch disappointment special and then a wow this is 100% a fanfic where am I going to go with this, it has a 50/50 chance of working, chapters may be longer. I feel like I'm writing a description on ebay.  
> I'll stop now.  
> Thx for reading, have a great day :3


	6. Chapter 6

The Marine lay down on his makeshift bed for the uptinth time. The zombies had seemed quiet today, almost as if Richtofen had given up. Or maybe, Dempsey thought, the German was distracted. He sighed, unsure whether he should love the confinement, but protected solace of the moon base. Part of him desperately wanted to go home, but God knew what horrors Richtofen had unleashed on it.  
“The thing is, he ‘is’ God.” Dempsey muttered under his breath before closing his eyes, taking one last look at his stockpile of weapons and the strange golden rod he had left them.  
“I wish I knew how to use that, it might just save us.” He muttered under his breath. The thing sure felt strange. Both Nikolai and Takeo had both attempted to work out the mechanics of the rod, but to no avail. He touched it, feeling the rod pulse gently under his fingers. The more he looked at it, the more he began to hate it. It looked so ‘alien’, so wrong, as if it did not mean to exist within this dimension.   
He remembered Richtofen obtaining it in that cold closet. Dempsey shivered, not wanting to relive those memories.   
He rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come quickly.

He had not been asleep more than a few hours, or so Dempsey guessed, when he was awoken by a harsh blinding cobalt light.  
From years of training and fighting, the American snapped awake, his hand already reaching for his pistol. He scowled at his teammates. Clearly Takeo had fallen asleep on watch, again.   
He aimed at the undead, but he froze, his skin paling.   
He stared into the luminescent eyes of none other than Samuel Stuhlinger.  
Yes, Demspey had doubted the man’s fighting capabilities, he was only a civilian after all… but to be dead, nothing more than one of Richtofen’s puppets, it was too much for him.  
What of the others, maybe they had turned too.  
But as Dempsey studied the zombie, he saw what it was clutching something in its pale fingers.  
The golden rod.  
Thoughts began to pour through Dempsey’s mind.  
Had Stuhlinger been talking to himself only a few hours ago?  
Didn’t Richtofen use that rod to swap bodies with Samantha?  
Slowly he put two and two together.  
“Richtofen?” Stuhlinger fled from the room.  
“Get your ass back here, Richtofen. I’m gonna fucking kill you.”  
Samuel froze and slowly turned around to face the Marine, a wide grin on his lips.  
A high pitched hysterical laugh emanated from the body.  
“Oh you would like zhat vouldn’t you,” It was his voice alright, but it had become tainted by the aether. Every word, every syllable sounded evil, demonic, screeching and echoing as he spoke. Dempsey cautiously took a step back, a primal fear driving away his hatred for the man who had betrayed them.  
“But ze zhing is, i’m razher difficult to kill. And besides Sammy is still here. You wouldn’t want to hurt Sammy now would you?”  
His voice sounded playful, teasing. The happiness in his voice after all he had done to him freed Dempsey from his trance of fear.  
Richtofen seemed to notice the change in Dempsey and so he fled once more. The Marine tried his hardest to follow the German, but his knowledge of Griffin Station’s layout bested that of the American’s. He had built this place afterall.   
Despite this, Dempsey had a pretty good idea of where the German was going and he ran the entire way.   
When he got there, he found Richtofen hunched over his old body, the rod still in his hand.   
Upon noticing Dempsey, he smiled, a smile that looked so wrong on Samuel’s body that he almost felt sorry for the man whose body the insane German inhabited.  
Dempsey lunged at Richtofen.  
Only to be blinded by a brilliant white light.   
He was too late.


End file.
